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Get answers to your Heart Failure questions.
Dr. Gottlieb’s Bio | Q&A Archive
CHF; Congestive heart failure; Left-sided heart failure; Right-sided heart failure - Cor pulmonale; Cardiomyopathy - heart failure
Symptoms of heart failure often begin slowly. At first, they may only occur when you are very active. Over time, you may notice breathing problems and other symptoms even when you are resting.
Heart failure symptoms may also begin suddenly; for example, after a heart attack or other heart problem.
Common symptoms are:
Your health care provider will examine you for signs of heart failure:
An echocardiogram (echo) is often the best test to diagnose, learn the cause of, and monitor your heart failure. Your doctor will use it to guide your treatment.
Other imaging tests are:
Lab tests are done to help your doctor:
Emanuel LL, Bonow RO. Care of patients with end-stage heart disease. In: Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 34.
Mann DL. Management of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. In: Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 28.
Jessup M, Abraham WT, Casey DE, Feldman AM, Francis GS, Ganiats TG, et al. 2009 focused update: ACCF/AHA Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines: developed in collaboration with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Circulation. 2009 Apr 14;119(14):1977-2016. Epub 2009 Mar 26.
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